48
1 “Hear
this, house of
Jacob,
you who are
called by the
name of Israel,
and have come
out of the
waters of Judah.
You swear by
the LORD’s name,
and make mention
of the God
of Israel,
but not in
truth, nor in
righteousness—
2 for
they call
themselves citizens of
the holy city,
and rely on the
God of Israel;
the LORD of
Armies is his
name.
3 I
have declared the
former things from
of old.
Yes, they went
out of my
mouth, and
I revealed them.
I did them
suddenly, and they
happened.
4 Because
I knew that
you are obstinate,
and your neck
is an iron
sinew,
and your brow
bronze;
5 therefore
I have declared
it to you
from of old;
before it came to
pass I showed
it to you;
lest you
should say, ‘My
idol has done
them.
My engraved image
and my molten
image has
commanded them.’
6 You
have heard it.
Now see all
this.
And you, won’t
you declare it?
“I have shown
you new things
from this time,
even hidden
things, which you
have not known.
7 They
are created now,
and not from
of old.
Before today,
you didn’t hear
them,
lest you
should say, ‘Behold,
I knew them.’
8 Yes,
you didn’t hear.
Yes, you didn’t
know.
Yes, from of old
your ear was
not opened,
for I knew
that you dealt
very treacherously,
and were called
a transgressor
from the womb.
9 For
my name’s sake,
I will defer
my anger,
and for my
praise, I hold
it back for you
so that I don’t
cut you off.
10 Behold,
I have refined
you,
but not as
silver.
I have chosen you
in the furnace
of affliction.
11 For
my own sake,
for my own sake,
I will do
it;
for how would
my name be
profaned?
I will not
give my glory
to another.
12 “Listen
to me, O
Jacob,
and Israel my
called:
I am he.
I am the first.
I am also
the last.
13 Yes, my
hand has laid
the foundation of
the earth,
and my right
hand has spread
out the heavens.
when I call
to them, they
stand up together.
14 “Assemble
yourselves, all of
you, and hear!
Who among them
has declared these
things?
He whom the
LORD loves will do
what he likes
to Babylon,
and his arm
will be against
the Chaldeans.
15 I, even
I, have spoken.
Yes, I have
called him.
I have brought him
and he shall
make his way
prosperous.
16 “Come
near to me
and hear this:
“From the
beginning I have
not spoken in
secret;
from the time
that it happened,
I was there.”
Now the Lord
GOD has sent
me
with his Spirit.
17 The
LORD,
your Redeemer,
the Holy One
of Israel, says:
“I am the
LORD your God,
who teaches you
to profit,
who leads you
by the way
that you should
go.
18 Oh
that you had
listened to my
commandments!
Then your peace
would have been
like a river
and your
righteousness like
the waves of
the sea.
19 Your
offspring also
would have been
as the sand
and the
descendants of
your body like
its grains.
His name would
not be cut
off nor destroyed
from before me.”
20 Leave Babylon!
Flee from the
Chaldeans!
With the sound
of joyful shouting
announce this,
tell it even
to the end
of the earth;
say, “The LORD
has redeemed his
servant Jacob!”
21 They didn’t
thirst when he
led them through
the deserts.
He caused the
waters to flow
out of the
rock for them.
He also split the
rock and the
waters gushed out.
22 “There
is no peace”, says
the LORD, “for
the wicked.”